What Goes Around
by Ansela
Summary: With the help of some new friends Harry breaks free of those who would control him and starts a new life. Longer summary inside. HPGW xover. Shounenai, het. 1x2,3x4,5xHP,SSxRL
1. The Silent Child

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Harry Potter. If I did, do you think I'd be writing _fanfiction_? Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and I can't be bothered to look up who owns Gundam Wing. I just know that it doesn't belong to me. I won't repeat this in later chapters, so listen well.

PS. If you think I own this then please visit your local psychiatrist ASAP. It sounds like you need some medication.

AN: This is my first attempt at a Gundam Wing/Harry Potter x-over, and I sincerely hope that it doesn't suck too bad. It's also my first time writing a slash fic, so please don't be too harsh. There isn't anything too heavy in the first few chapters, maybe not at all, but there are mentions of some adult themes. I DO NOT CONDONE RAPE OR CHILD ABUSE IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM. THESE SITUATIONS ARE MERELY FICTIONAL AND ARE NOT BASED ON REAL LIFE EVENTS.

Now that that's out of the way, on with the story.

* * *

Summary  
Beaten and abused by his relatives, Harry Potter is in a desperate situation after his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When a new arrival to Little Whinging decides to help him out history might just be changed.

Grey!Harry, Manipulative!Dumbledore, Mentor!Snape, Powerful!Harry. 1x2,3x4,5xHP,9x6,NLxLL,RWxHG,RLxSS,GWxDM,RPxDC. Noncon, shounen-ai, het, shoujo-ai, fluff. Rating may go up.

* * *

"I'm bored." Twenty boys and two girls sat on a variety of broken play equipment and benches in the otherwise deserted play area. "What should we do Big D?"

'Big D', a blonde teenager who bore more of a resemblance to a baby whale than a human, appeared to think for a while before his porcine eyes glittered in amusement. "Let's play Hunt the Freak." He pointed at a skinny boy passing the edge of the park, watching the gang warily as he attempted to stay out of sight. "First person to catch him gets to do whatever they want to him for the rest of the day. Try not to hurt him too bad though. Dad won't be too pleased if that filth is incapable of performing his duties."

The 'Freak' seemed to realise the danger as the gang moved towards him as one being. He bolted, darting in between two houses as the teenagers abandoned the park in pursuit of their unfortunate victim.

Unknown to the gang there was another person in the park. The lone oak concealed a single boy, who had heard the entire thing. Hair concealing one side of his face, he watched as the teenagers spread out to catch their prey. He'd made no effort to hide, not by his standards, but his standards were better than most. When he was certain that all of them were gone he dropped silently to the parched ground and set off in pursuit of the gang's victim.

* * *

Harry gasped in pain as one of Dudley's gang tackled him from behind and knocked him to the ground. His leg twisted and cracked as he fell, and a broken rib made itself known. He'd almost made it to the safety of a small hollow in a tree, one too small and well hidden for any of Dudley's incompetent friends to find or enter, when Caleb had caught him. He froze automatically as a weight pressed on his legs, knowing better than to try and escape once caught.

Before anything could happen someone dragged Caleb away, face void of emotions as he knocked the large boy out and left him on the floor. His expression didn't change as he ran his hands over the broken leg before lifting Harry from the ground. The raven-haired wizard could feel the vibrations of his rescuer's chest as he talked, but that was lost as he allowed darkness to claim him.

* * *

Trowa blinked once, instantly awake as his injured houseguest attempted to leave his bed. The quiet acrobat waited for the teenager to realise that his leg was broken, but he showed no indication of pain.

'Great, now I'm certain that he's related to Heero.' Duo delighted in telling the other pilots about the time that his anti-social boyfriend set his own leg after jumping out of a fifty-storey building. "Hey, you shouldn't try to stand. You'll make your leg worse."

The boy continued his attempts to stand, making it halfway up before his leg refused to cooperate any further. Puzzled, Trowa laid a hand on his arm to draw his attention. The boy spun, fear filling his face as seemed to only just realise the other's presence. He pulled back, collapsing to the floor as he kept his eyes on Trowa.

"I won't hurt you." The boy still tried to scrabble away. "Stay still or you'll hurt yourself more."

The front door slammed and Trowa tensed. "I'm going to see who that is. Wait here." He slipped out of the room, locking it behind him to prevent the injured teenager from leaving. It was unlikely that he would be able to, but the acrobat wasn't taking any chances.

"Trowa, there you are." Despite his obvious relief the Arabian pilot kept his ready stance. A silent shadow at the kitchen doorway betrayed Wu Fei's location, the Chinese boy silently waiting for a signal to fire. "I was picking up so much fear…"

"I found a boy being hunted by a local gang. He's in the treatment room, but he's too scared to listen to a thing I say." Wu Fei scowled behind Trowa but his gun returned to its resting place on his waistband.

"I'll speak to him." Trowa threw Quatre the key and allowed the blonde to go to the treatment room alone. Maybe his empathic abilities would give him more luck in talking to the patient.

* * *

Harry stared at the locked door in dismay. He'd almost been to his feet when the other boy had touched him and then he'd lost it. Luckily he hadn't been punished for his reaction, but maybe that was why he had been left alone so soon. The wait for his captor's return was almost unbearable, made worse by his fearful anticipation of what was to come.

This wasn't the first time that his uncle had allowed someone to take him away for a night or two. He'd been returned home early from Hogwarts, against his wishes, 'to properly grieve for his lost godfather'. Unfortunately Snape had delighted in telling the Dursleys about Sirius' death, therefore removing his only barrier against their rage. Since then he'd been treated as his uncle's toy, being beaten and starved on a regular basis, as well as used as relief for his uncle and anyone else willing to pay enough money. Petunia Dursley had no idea about what was happening, believing that he kept on running away when he was 'rented out' for the night. After a particularly savage beating he lost his voice, having been punched in the throat and then choked into unconsciousness with a belt. A week later he'd lost his hearing, after Dudley kicked him five times in the head for 'looking at him funny'. That was Dudley's first day back from Smeltings, and he'd been happy to join in his father's twisted idea of fun. Deafened and muted he was unable to protest against his treatment, and punished even more for not following orders that he could no longer hear. The only consolation was that his sight had somehow fixed itself, which was lucky, as his glasses had barely survived a single day.

The door unlocked and Harry tensed further. A small blonde boy stepped in, leaving the door open behind him. His happy smile and open expression almost made Harry trust this newcomer, until he remembered that looks weren't always a good indicator of character.

The wizard tried to make it look like he was listening, hoping that he wouldn't realise how much of an advantage he truly had. Eventually he left, leaving the door open as he grinned at Harry. The deaf-mute was confused; the whole time the other boy had stood out of arm's reach and where he could easily be seen, as if he could sense Harry's fear and didn't want to make it worse.

* * *

Trowa and Wu Fei both watched Quatre as the normally cheerful pilot slammed into the living room and collapsed onto the sofa. His wide eyed look and rapid breathing concerned Trowa and Heavyarms' pilot pulled him onto his lap to calm him before asking him anything.

"He's not just scared Tro, he's terrified. The whole time I was in there he looked like he was expecting me to hit him…or worse. I tried to calm him, but he was completely unreceptive." Quatre clung to Trowa's sweater, fists pulling at the black fabric.

"Terrified of you? You're one of the least threatening people I know." Trowa conveniently chose to forget the cold rage induced by Quatre's use of the untested Zero system, something that still surfaced on the rare occasions when the blonde was truly angry.

"He didn't hear a single thing I said." Quatre pulled himself closer to Trowa's chest. As Trowa attempted to calm him he missed seeing Wu Fei leave the room.

* * *

Wu Fei stared at the teenager who was sprawled on the treatment room floor. He didn't need to be an empath to know that he was expecting some sort of pain, and he barely suppressed his rage. There was no justice in mistreating a child to the point where everyone was seen as a potential source of pain.

"Calm down. I have no intention of harming you." As the boy attempted to melt into the wall Wu Fei grimaced. It wasn't that he was ignoring what was being said to him, but rather that he was unable to hear.

"_You won't be harmed. Please calm down and tell me your name."_ Wu Fei shoved the notepad in front of the boy. Startled green eyes rose from the floor to stare at the Chinese pilot. Dropping the pencil and paper where the boy could reach them he backed off slightly.

"_Harry. You really won't hurt me?"_

"_Why would we?" _Wu Fei resolved to find out where Harry lived and make whoever put him in this state pay. Justice would be served. _"Who are your parents?"_

"_Dead."_

"_Where do you live then?" _Wu Fei was unable to react as Harry tensed for a second before scrambling to his feet and stumbling to the door. It was as if he was paralysed, only able to watch as Harry attempted to escape. "TROWA! QUATRE!" The other two pilots would stop him before he managed to leave the house.

* * *

Harry praised his luck as he ran towards the door of the house. A burst of magic had frozen the Chinese boy and allowed him to escape the room where he was being held without interference. He had said that he wouldn't hurt Harry, but he wanted to know where he lived. He would return him to the Dursleys and they would punish him for disappearing.

The other two that Harry had seen moved to intercept him and he raised a hand, calling on the magic that was still bubbling beneath his skin. Red bolts flew across the room, hitting the small blonde and barely missing the taller one, who dodged away with athletic grace. While the taller one was checking his friend Harry ran for the door, only to collide with someone else.

He staggered back, reaching for anything he could to correct his balance and prevent his fall. Eventually his hand brushed against a braided rope and he grabbed it. His fall halted for a second before something gave way. He was pinned as something, probably whatever the rope was attached to, fell on top of him. Face down, he waited for someone to switch the lights on and break the pitch-blackness he was trapped in.

* * *

Duo cursed rapidly as someone collided with him in the dark hallway, the insults only growing in intensity as that same person added insult to injury by using his own braid to drag him down to the floor with him. He doubted that it was another pilot, the frailty of the body beneath him not fitting any of his friends. Unfortunately whoever it was didn't seem keen on letting go of the braid, especially since lapsing into unconsciousness.

"TRO! QUAT! WU-MAN!" The light snapped on and Duo painfully turned his head to see which of the other pilots had responded. "Get this guy off my hair!"

Trowa gently pried the boy's fingers from the chestnut braid, eyes fixed on the boy the whole time. "Who is he Tro?"

"An enigma. I brought him here after rescuing him from a gang. He's terrified of everything, even Quatre," Duo blinked. Quatre the kind hearted pilot of Gundam 04? No one was scared of him, not even OZ soldiers. At least not until his heat shotels were buried in their suits. "He knocked Quatre out and paralysed Wu Fei somehow."

"Wow. Want him placing in the treatment room?" Trowa nodded, letting Deathscythe's pilot take the boy's weight. "Taking out two pilots. Even off guard, which it looks like you and Quat were, that's a difficult feat." Duo indicated the fresh hickey on Trowa's exposed neck, which the acrobat covered quickly.

"Wu Fei says he's deaf and possibly mute, so be careful with him." Duo nodded, smirking at Trowa's discomfort. The European was still shy about his relationship with Quatre, and Duo's comments didn't help him in any way. "Any idea on when 01 will return?"

"Nope. Heero said something about dealing with an annoyance, so I'm guessing that Relena's managed to nearly locate us again. I just hope he doesn't kill her this time. We don't need Zechs getting mad at us because Heero harmed his sister, not that he seemed to care last time when her car somehow got between Zero and Epyon while they were fighting. Oh, hey Wu-man. Nice impression of a statue you got going there. Keep an eye on him while I fetch something to eat will ya. Yell if he wakes up." Before Wu Fei could protest Duo was gone, leaving him alone with a still unconscious Harry.

When the American returned it was with a fully loaded tray of drinks and snacks. Placing it down on the table he knelt next to Wu Fei and grinned at the Chinese pilot.

"INJUSTICE! MAXWELL! GET THIS STUFF OFF ME THIS INSTANT!" Duo had also collected Trowa's clown make up with the drinks, and Wu Fei resembled a…Duo wasn't sure what the irate pilot resembled but it wasn't his usual self. Trowa peered into the room to investigate when Wu Fei started yelling, but he retreated once he saw what Duo had done, not wanting to get involved with his prank.

"Calm down. Maybe this will cheer him up when he comes to. What did you say his name was again Wu-man? Harry, or something like that?" Duo grinned maniacally. "It's been a while since…hey, he's waking up."


	2. Revelations

Harry grimaced and tried to close his eyes against the bright light that threatened to sear his eyeballs from their sockets. Someone must have seen the reaction as the lights dimmed, allowing him to open his eyes and look around him. To his horror he was in the first room he'd woken up in, and the Chinese boy who wanted to take him back to the Dursleys was still frozen on the floor.

Harry rubbed his eyes and looked back at the boy again. His face was covered in multi-coloured make-up that made him look like some one had thrown him through a make-up factory. He laughed soundlessly, forgetting the imminent danger as the boy got angrier by the second. He was yelling something at someone else in the room, and didn't like the reply if his reactions were anything to go by.

"_Ignore Wu Fei. He'll calm down once he's threatened my hair a few times."_ Harry looked at the person who handed him the note; a braided boy with a violet eyes and a mischievous grin. There was no question about who painted Wu Fei's face in that manner.

"_My name's Duo by the way. The other two are Trowa and Quatre. Quatre's the one you knocked out, but Trowa says that he's fine. Good job on knocking them out. Many's the time that I've walked in on them and wanted to do the same thing, though probably for different reasons than you. Heero, he's the last person who lives here BTW, says that no one on Earth or in the colonies is as addicted to playing pranks as I am. Such loving remarks, don't you think?"_ Harry's head was swimming by the time he'd deciphered the messy scrawl that was Duo's handwriting. He was treating him like an old friend, despite Harry's previous actions.

"_I'm sorry about before. I didn't mean it and I won't do it again. Please don't be angry at me. Please don't send me back there."_ Duo frowned when he looked at the note, showing it to a now quiet Wu Fei before standing and stretching.

"_I'm going to speak to Quat and Tro. I'd say don't move, but you seem like you want to stay here. Don't worry, none of us will hurt you."_ Duo left, leaving behind a confused Harry and an angry Wu Fei.

* * *

"Tro, I'm concerned about Harry." Trowa looked away from his examination of Quatre to regard Duo. The normally loud American was leaning wearily against the doorframe; worry turning his usual goofy smile into a tense frown.

"As I am Duo." He took the note Duo held out to him, green eyes scanning the writing that was almost as untidy as Duo's or Heero's. Once he finished reading it for a second time he passed it to Quatre to get the Arab's opinion.

"He's terrified of going home? Why? Home is where you should always feel safe and wanted, where you go to escape from the dangers of the world." Having grown up with twenty-nine older sisters, Quatre couldn't understand why anyone would be too terrified to go home. Despite their occasional mood swings and desire to treat him like their dress up doll, the younger ones anyway, he knew that he would always be safe in the Winner house. Trowa and Duo knew better though.

"Quat, sometimes a loving home is just a front for other things. It looks like he's ended up in a bad place, but he's too scared to tell anyone what's going on." Duo placed an arm around the smaller pilot's shoulders. "Trust me, I'm not sending back to somewhere that'll leave him in this state again." Trowa silently agreed, understanding his friend's motives.

"What can we do though? He's deaf and mute, so security isn't an issue as long as we don't leave anything written around. We can't keep writing everything out for him though, as it will take far too long to say anything and his writing's as bad as mine is. Hey, anyone know where the spare laptop is? Maybe he types faster than he writes. Even if he doesn't it'll be easier to read. That's a good idea." Duo ran towards the bedroom he shared with Heero, determined to find the spare laptop and take it to Harry. Trowa and Quatre watched him go, used to the short attention span of Deathscythe's pilot.

* * *

"_Hey, this is much easier, isn't it?"_ Harry stared at the computer before cautiously reaching out to it. Hogwarts wasn't exactly the height of technological sophistication, heck he doubted that half its inhabitants even knew what a light bulb was, and the Dursleys had never allowed him to use the computer at home. The last time he'd used one was in Year Six at Little Whinging Community Junior School, before he'd gone to Hogwarts, meaning that he was probably worse than useless at typing.

"_I guess. I'm not very godd typer."_ Duo grinned, the open smile making Harry feel slightly more comfortable. _"I am very soory for causing trouble."_

"Don't be. I cause trouble all the time. The other guys are always threatening to get me back, but they never do. Well, Quatre never threatens but he's too nice. You'd like him I think. Everyone does. Well, nearly everyone. The few people that don't like him are complete assholes. He's rich as well. He bought this house for all of us to live in, even though Wu Fei and me are just going to end up trashing it by chasing around and slamming into things. Hey, I just remembered that I wanted to ask you about you. Your parents, school, friends, you know? Just general stuff."

Duo did a mental victory dance. His diarrhoea of the mouth, or hands in this case, was putting Harry at ease where it would normally encourage people to chase him madly through the house. He'd moved so that the smaller boy could read what he was typing as he went to save time, and he gave the laptop just a small nudge over to Harry's lap.

"_Er, well, there's not much to say. My parents were killed when I was a baby. I've lived with my aunt and uncle since then. They didn't get on with my parents so they don't like me much. They make me go to St Brutus' Institue for Incurably Criminal Boys, even though I get in less trouble than my cousin. I do all chores when at home, but it was fine until this summer. I was returned home early because my godfather dies and a professor who went to school with my dad and hated him told them this. My godfather was going to adopt me and take me away and they were scared of him. Now they have nothing to be scared of so they can do what they want. Aunt Petunia doesn't know what's going on though. Uncle Vernin won'y tell her and I can't. Dudley, my cousin, knows but he joins in so he's no help. They say that they won't send me back to school in September. My friend won't worry until then because my uncle makes me send letters to them sayinf that I'm okay. Don't make me go back to them. Please."_ Duo forced himself to stay relaxed, not wanting to alarm Harry by going into a rage. Wu Fei watched as violet eyes turned dark and cold, signifying that the braided pilot was slipping into Shinigami, his battle mind that allowed him to ruthlessly slaughter any OZ soldiers who crossed his path. Duo reached over to the laptop and saved the text, before slipping the computer out of Harry's grasp and wordlessly leaving the room.

* * *

Heero slipped into the silent house, senses on alert as he looked for any sign of life in the gloom. Only one light was on and he headed towards it, gun held loosely in one hand.

"…find them and make them pay." Quatre's cold voice made Heero pause. The barely controlled fury in the words reminded him of the battle in space, the first time Quatre had used the insanity-inducing cockpit system.

"We can't' Harry only gave us names, not an address, and I think that's all he'll give. He's terrified of them, and he'll probably try to run away again if we ask for an address." Duo looked round at the door. "Oh, hey Heero."

"What are you guys talking about?" The four pilots all began talking at once, telling Heero about Harry and showing him the laptop that still had Harry's words on the screen. Heero made no sound as they spoke, but his knuckles grew white as his grip grew tighter on his gun.

"Find out where he lives and get revenge. There can't be many people around here with those names. Find them and do whatever you want to them." He placed his gun back in his waistband and looked straight at Duo. "Where is he? I want to speak to him."

"I'll show you Hee-chan. You'll need the laptop. He's deaf-mute and so I've been using it to talk to him." Heero took the device, Prussian blue eyes drilling into Duo and willing him into silence.

"Why don't you use sign language?"

"We didn't think of that. Things were pretty chaotic around here earlier, since Wu Fei scared him into trying to run away and he managed to freeze Wu Fei, stun Quatre and drag me to the ground by my braid. Gotta ask how he did that. The freezing and stunning I mean, not the braid pulling. That was damned simple."

Harry looked up as the two of them entered the treatment room, eyes wide as he shrank away from Heero. Duo grinned and sat on the bed next to him, typing a quick message onto the laptop that calmed him down slightly. Sliding away from the bed he grinned at Heero a final time before slipping out of the room. Heero heard his footsteps retreat down the hall as he sat next to Harry.

"_How did you do what you did?"_

"_What?"_ Harry was shocked? This guy obviously had no intentions of being gentle with his questions. _"I don't know what you mean?"_

"_Freezing Wu Fei in place and knocking Quatre out. How did you do it?"_

Harry bit his lip, not sure what to do. Magic was a secret; he would get in trouble if he told anyone. But Dumbledore had abandoned him to the Dursleys, not even sending one person to check on him since Snape had brought him home. What allegiance did he owe him or the Order? _"it's a pretty uinbelievable story. Even if I told you, you might not believe me."_

"_Tell me anyway."_

"_I'm a wizard. Not one of those guys who pulls rabbits out of hats and does card tricks, but a wand-waving, broomstick0riding, potions-brewing wizard. I go to a school for wizards, not for criminal boys like I told Duo. My parents were magical as well, which is why my anut and uncle hate me, because they don't like anything that isn't normal. I don't know exactly what happened earlier but I was scared, so it was probably accidental magic that I used ro freeze your friend. There was magic left over so I used a _Stupefy_, a stunning speel to knocxk the other one out. Someone;s menat to watch over me during the holidays but if they're there then they don't seem to care what's going on this year. I shouldn't be telling you this, but they've abandoned me so I refuse to do as they would want."_

"_Please, what is Duo going to do to my relatives. They're horrible and all that but he can't kill them. It's their blood connection to me that stops a group of evil wizards from finding me. at least that's what I was told after my godfather was killed. I don't think its accurate though, as Voldemort, that's their leader, used my blood to ressurect himself so he has the same blood as me. that probably voids any protection, but Dumbledore, that's my headmaster, wouldn;'t listen to me when I tried to tell him this."_ Harry's typing became more erratic as he continued, and Heero eventually pulled the laptop away from him so he could calm down before he became incoherent.

"Duo and the others won't do anything yet. They don't know where you live, but it will probably only take them a few days to do so. Is there anything you want from your relative's house before they go there?"

"_Yes. My school stuff is in a trunk underneath the stairs. and underneath my mattress is a loose floorborad. I keep some stuff there, wrapped up in a cloak that makes anything under it invisible. Whoever fetches it will need to feel around for it in order to find it. My wand is there, a few schoolbooks, a broken mirror and a piece of blank parchment that's really a concealed map. The address is 4 privet drive."_

"_Thank you. I will go with Duo to collect your belongings."_ Heero left, mentally preparing himself for what he planned to do. Even Perfect Soldiers had feelings when it came to instances of abuse and neglect.

* * *

"This is too easy. I know it's not an OZ base, but I was expecting some security at least." Heero and Trowa glared at Duo, willing him to be quiet. The American was being too loud for an infiltration, even if the target was a civilian. They'd left Quatre and Wu Fei at the safe house, as Wu Fei had no interest in 'petty revenge' and Quatre didn't trust himself to keep his temper if any of the family woke up and discovered their presence. "I thought they'd have a security alarm at least. Even a 'hood like this has to have some crime."

"If you don't quiet down we might wake them up. Then we'll see what they're capable of." The hissed warning had no effect on Duo, except to make him look even more excited. Trowa glared at Heero for encouraging the prankster, knowing that he wanted the occupants to wake.

The three pilots found the cupboard under the stairs easily enough, and the lock on the door was little challenge for them. Locating Harry's room was just as easy, and Heero easily undid the seven locks on the door while the other two were retrieving the heavy trunk from the cupboard. The room was practically bare; a mattress, a bucket and a set of chains were all that lay on the wooden floor. There wasn't even a cover on the bare mattress, which weighed barely anything as Heero lifted it to find the loose floorboard that Harry had mentioned. Footsteps outside the door made him still, listening to see where the person was going. Too heavy for either of his companions, he hoped that whoever had woken up simply wanted to use the bathroom and would go back to bed immediately before things got out of hand.

Heero shrunk into the darkness as the footsteps stopped outside the door, willing whoever it was to leave and not enter the room. Unfortunately his luck wasn't that good, and someone slowly opened the door and peered in. Heero knew his chances of being seen were poor; the room was unlit and he was dressed in dark clothing that hid his form. The person in the doorway reached in and flipped the light switch, blinding Heero with the sudden burst of light. Before he could recover his vision and move away he found himself pinned by his arms and legs by a much heavier person. As hands moved to his waistband he took the only option available to him. He yelled as loud and hard as he could.

Duo and Trowa also fell silent when they heard the footsteps, hands flying to where their guns usually sat. When the movement stopped they let out the breaths they'd been holding, until Heero's angry yell broke the silence. They ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time as they raced towards the only lit room. Duo's battle cry joined Heero's yell as he kicked the whale-like man's head, forcing him away from Heero and into the wall. Trowa stayed in the hallway, throwing knife in hand, to discourage the other two inhabitants, the whale-like boy from the park and a horse-like woman, from joining the man in the fight.

* * *

A hooded and cloaked figure watched as the group of drunken men stumbled out from the secret, and illegal, drinking parlour and towards the police station. His memory charm would ensure that they wouldn't remember him, while the compulsion on them and the Veritaserum mixed with their drinks would have them telling the police everything about their illegal activities.

He was glad that no one who knew him could see him at that moment. His daily persona was one of intimidation and unpleasantness, the complete opposite of his current self. For twelve years he'd spent his summers hunting down and punishing those that would use children for their own twisted entertainment. A memory charm here, a piece of forged paperwork there and the perpetrators found themselves in prison and the children ended up with the proper authorities. None of them remembered how it happened, only that it did. He couldn't afford for anyone to know, nor did he want anyone to know.

Once the men were out of sight he apparated away, determined to track down the children mentioned during their confessions to him. Three more children would be saved that night, and maybe he would be one step closer to redemption in his own heart.

* * *

Who is this mysterious stranger? And what will happen to the Dursleys now that they've gotten the pilots angry? Why am I asking all these questions? I already know the answers.

R&R if you want to know. Guesses on who Mr Mysterious is are welcome. Virtual Sandrock plushies to anyone who gets it right.


	3. New Beginning

Hey, it's me again. (Ducks rotten vegetables and assorted pointy objects) I'm sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I transferred all my important files to a flash drive because my dad promised to replace my hard drive, which he still hasn't done over a month later. Then my brother lost his flash drive, and I was told to lend him mine because he needs a way to transfer his ICT coursework from school to home and back again. Turns out that he's doing the exact same coursework assignment that I did four years ago, so the main file (the project log where he notes down every action he takes) won't fit on a floppy disk. Mine was over 50 pages in size 10 Times New Roman on Word, and it still only got me a B for not enough detail. He was only meant to borrow the drive for a week, but it's been three weeks and he still hasn't given it back. Every time I ask for it back, even for a few minutes so I can get all my files back, he says he's using it and he'll think about it. I was lucky enough to find this copy of the chapter in a hidden folder that I forgot to transfer to the flash drive, and that's what I'm posting. It's not the finished chapter, and I may replace it later when I get the proper file back from my brother. Until then, enjoy this. I'll try to update sooner next time.

* * *

"_Written/typed text, e.g. books, notes, web pages"  
**"Sign language"**_  
"Normal speech"  
'_Thoughts'_

* * *

The hooded and cloaked man apparated onto the deserted street and looked around cautiously. It was always a risk to use magic in a Muggle neighbourhood, but he wasn't going to delay any longer than he had to. It had taken too long to locate the other two children and remove them to a safe place and it had been three days since he'd found out about this one. Three days could make all the difference in saving a child who was being abused, especially in a case such as this.

The identical Muggle houses were almost enough to make him ill. Such conformity was misleading, a front used by people to hide their flaws and force themselves to fit with social norms. Locating the one he wanted he strode up to the front door and opened it with a wordless spell. Like hell he was going to knock and give the inhabitants time to hide any evidence.

The lack of response to his entry was disturbing, and he gripped his wand tighter as he searched the deserted lower floor. Pictures of a horse-woman, a walrus-man and a beach ball/whale-boy decorated every available surface, but none fitting the description of the boy he was looking for. Stopping to listen he realised that a muffled whimpering sound was coming from the cupboard.

What he found in the cupboard wasn't what he expected. The whale-boy was crammed into the tiny space, and had obviously not chosen to fit in there. With a whispered spell the wizard freed him, leaving him lying on the floor attempting to regain his breath as he searched the upstairs. The walrus-man was the next one to be found, chained up on a small mattress in an otherwise bare room. Faecal matter stained the floor around him, as he was too porcine or too proud to get up and use the bucket on the other side of the room. The horse-woman was tied up on what the wizard assumed was hers and her husband's bed, with ample rope to reach a bucket concealed in the walk-in wardrobe but not enough to leave the room.

The wizard freed the woman from the rope and levitated her husband down the stairs to where whale-boy was still gasping on the floor. With a nudge of his toe the wizard convinced him to stand and enter the sitting room, where the curtains were still drawn to allow them some privacy.

"You are going to answer all my questions with the full truth. If you do not then I will use more unpleasant methods. Do you understand me?" The woman nodded and the wizard removed her gag and looked her in the eye.

"What happened to the three of you?"

The woman told him of how her nephew went missing, like he'd been doing all summer, but then three boys had shown up at the house. They'd been trying to steal her nephew's belongings, and when her husband had attempted to apprehend one of them he'd started yelling and brought his companions running. That was when things had gotten out of hand. One of them had assaulted her husband and given him the bruise that decorated his face and the other one had threatened her and her son. The one that had been apprehended slipped away, muttering in a foreign language, and had found her husband's shotgun. They'd then been forced, at gunpoint, into the positions that the wizard had found them in. She'd blacked out when one of them injected her with something, and when she woke up she'd been gagged and there was no sign of the boys or her nephew's things. Nothing else seemed to be missing, that she could see, which was strange as her nephew's things were practically worthless.

The wizard resisted the urge to curse the woman as she punctuated her tale with sobs and cries about the accusations made by the boys. It sounded to him like someone had found out about what was happening to the boy who lived here and did something to save him. Silencing the woman he turned to the man and made eye contact with him.

He saw himself, bringing the boy to the house and joyfully relating the death of his godfather to the sullen looking man. As he told the man this, his expression changed from anger to calculating glee. Even before he apparated away the boy was being beaten, stripped of the protection of his relative's fear of his godfather. He broke the connection in horror, stepping away from the chained and gagged man whilst fighting the urge to thrown up. He had no memory to match that which he took from the fat Muggle. How could he have lost such an important memory? Why would he have ignored such a dangerous look from an unwilling guardian? Why, why, why, why why?

* * *

**Four weeks later**

Wu Fei felt a twinge of guilt as Harry landed hard on the ground and grunted as the breath was driven from his body. They were the only two left in the mansion safe house they'd moved to after Little Whinging, and he'd thought it a good idea to carry on with the self-defence training started by Trowa and Quatre. Unfortunately for Harry, the Chinese martial artist wasn't as easy going as the other two, and he'd landed on the hard mats more times than he was used to.

"**Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."** One of the first things they'd done after moving was teach Harry sign language so they could communicate more easily. They'd been shocked to discover that his hearing and voice loss was only recent, and Duo had had to be restrained from returning to England and killing the Dursleys.

"**No problems. I won't learn without getting some bruises, no?"** Harry grinned at the apologetic pilot. Sometimes it was hard for him to believe that his saviours were wanted terrorists that could wipe out Little Whinging with ease. He'd been even more shocked to learn that, if pushed hard enough, it was Duo and Quatre that would find the task easiest. He'd suspected that Duo hid a serious side behind his pranks and smiles, but Quatre was too innocent to be suspect.

"**You won't learn anything if I am too harsh with you."** Wu Fei held out a hand and pulled Harry to his feet. To his surprise, Harry stumbled and crashed into him, almost knocking him to the ground.

Harry began to stammer out a silent apology, backing away from Wu Fei. The horror in his eyes mesmerised the pilot, who bit his lip as Harry repeatedly licked his lips and attempted to force some sound through his throat, a sign of panic in the deaf-mute teen. Without thinking he grabbed Harry's arms and pinned them to his sides as he covered Harry's mouth with his own and forced his tongue inside.

A few seconds later he broke the kiss, pulling away from Harry and fighting back the urge to throw up. He was disgusted at himself for his actions, unable to think of a reason for his sudden attack on Harry. Without looking at the wizard he ran from the room, determined to find somewhere where he would think without being disturbed.

Harry watched the fleeing martial artist, tears springing to his eyes as he realised that he was the cause of his confusion. He didn't blame Wu Fei for the kiss, it wasn't the worst thing he could have done, but he didn't understand why the other teen ran away. As soon as the others returned from their mission they were certain to kick him out for upsetting one of their own.

* * *

The four jubilant pilots burst into the 18th century French mansion, laughing and joking as they celebrated their completed mission. Duo and Trowa were covered in dust and ash, having slipped into the base to set explosive charges while the OZ soldiers were preoccupied with trying to destroy Zero and Sandrock. For safety they'd blown up the charges at minimum safe distance, only to find that they were still in danger from falling rubble and angry soldiers that wanted revenge on a certain pair of terrorists. Escape had been interesting, to say the least.

The quiet in the mansion didn't unnerve them in any way. Wu Fei and Harry weren't given to making unnecessary noise, so it wasn't unusual to come back and find the two of the reading in complete silence. Something felt wrong to Quatre though, and he stared around as he tried to pinpoint it.

"Guys? Something's wrong here." In an instant the other three were serious, guns ready to fire and senses on full alert. Without speaking they paired up and separated, Duo and Trowa headed for the living area and Heero and Quatre for the library and rec room.

Duo and Trowa cautiously approached Wu Fei's room. Harry's had been empty, light out, bed made and floor clean. As the boy was occasionally a neat freak it didn't surprise them to find his room immaculate. Wu Fei's was just as dark, but there were muffled sounds coming from the inside.

"You don't think…" Trowa shook his head and shot Duo a disgusted look. Trust the American to come up with the more perverted possibility. He swung the door open carefully, leading the way into the room with his gun. Duo waited several seconds before following, allowing his eyes to get used to the darkness inside.

In the dim moonlight Wu Fei pounded away at the striking post, eyes closed as he repeated a phrase constantly in Chinese. He didn't pause when Trowa turned on the lights, not even acknowledging the other two pilots. Duo grabbed his elbow as he punched again, pulling him away from the wooden post and examining the bloody knuckles of both hands.

"What the hell are you doing Wu Fei?" Altron's pilot ignored him and tried to shove past to the post again. "Where's Harry?"

"I don't know. I messed up Duo. I shouldn't have done it but I did and I've probably ruined everything." The cryptic phrase didn't answer anything for Duo or Trowa, but before they could ask him to explain Quatre came running in.

"Harry's gone! We can't find him! Anywhere!"

* * *

Harry ran through the woods at full speed, not bothering to duck under the branches that left whip marks and scratches across his face. Tears stained his eyes as he fled, only a small bag slung over his thin shoulders. Staying to receive the hatred of the pilots seemed futile; they would only throw him out anyway. Why would he think that anyone would want a freak like him to stay around? All he was good for was being used, and even then he didn't seem to be good enough. Freaks didn't deserve happiness. They would never find it, no matter how hard they tried.

In his panic he failed to notice the group of drunken OZ soldiers approaching him through the trees. The woods contained a well-frequented path between the town and the OZ base, and drunken soldiers often used it to get back to their barracks before lights out. The soldiers noticed him though, and quickly surrounded him, halting his forward flight easily.

He bit his lip and stared at each of them in turn, panic growing as he noted the lustful expressions on the majority of their faces. A few, the more sober ones it seemed, seemed to be trying to reason with their drunker comrades, but with little luck. Eventually the soberer ones abandoned their attempts to get them to see reason and left, apparently not sober enough to take Harry with them.

As soon as they were unhindered the first one lunged, aiming to bring Harry down. Reacting instinctively he kicked, catching the man in the stomach and bringing him to his knees. Soon though Harry was overwhelmed, his captors only made angrier by his brief yet futile resistance.


	4. Saved

**I'm sorry for not updating sooner, but this chapter was being difficult. I'm still not completely happy with this chapter, but it's better than the first few drafts.**

**AN2: This is NOT an update. The Pit killed my line breaks (and everyone else's for that matter) and so I'm having to go through and change them all so as not to have my chapters as indistinguishable blocks of text.**

* * *

_"Written/typed text, e.g. books, notes, web pages"_

**"Sign language"**

_#Radio communications/telephone/vid phone/TV/radio broadcast#_

**-Parseltongue-**

"Normal speech"

'Thoughts' 

* * *

Severus Snape cursed and ducked under a knife, retaliating with a punch to his drunken assailant's gut. The odds against him weren't good, and he couldn't retreat while he was protecting the teenager who lay unconscious at his feet. The group of drunk soldiers were leering at the both of them now, and Severus had no illusions about what would happen to him and the boy when, not if, he was overpowered. Without using magic, which would bring down the Département pour la Commande Magique on him for using magic in front of Muggles, he saw no way to escape his current situation.

'Think Severus. You got yourself into this situation and you can get yourself out if you try hard enough.' The dark-haired wizard counted the number of men that were intent on assaulting him and his newfound charge. Ten on one was never good, however you dressed it up, and when you factored in the knives and guns that the soldiers carried, the odds got even worse.

"OI, OZZIES, YOU WANT A FIGHT?" The shout echoed through the surrounding trees, and the soldiers turned to see who was addressing them in such a bold manner. Severus couldn't see anyone in the darkness, but the soldiers were also similarly handicapped. Severus carefully picked up his charge, shocked at how light he was, and began to back away as the soldiers all stared in the opposite direction to the one he'd chosen.

"Follow me," Severus nearly dropped his burden as a teenage boy materialised from the darkness and began to lead him into the trees. Behind him the soldiers seemed to have realised their disappearance as they began to yell loudly. "Don't worry about them following us."

"Your friend in the shadows...he will be able to deal with them?" The boy nodded and carried on walking through the dark forest. Severus opened his mouth to ask the boy where they were going and then shut it again. The teenager probably wouldn't answer him. Loud bangs erupted behind them, and the screams of dying men followed.

"The soldiers won't be a problem. You can't kill something you can't even see," Severus could have sworn that he saw a faint smirk on the young man's face, before it returned to its previous impassiveness. 

"Hey there, miss me Hee-chan?" A second teenager materialised from the trees behind Severus, gun held loosely in one hand. "Is Harry okay?"

"I have not had time to assess Harry's condition. Why didn't you use a silencer?" The teenager frowned and lifted his gun to show the attachment on the end of the barrel. Severus knew more about Muggle technology than most people thought he did, and so he recognised the silencer that would have stopped the weapon from making the amount of noise he'd heard.

"They tried to shoot back and completely missed me. We'd probably better get out of here though, since someone's gonna have heard that noise," the braided teenager pushed past both of them, stopping briefly to gently brush some of Harry's hair out of his face, and vanished into the trees ahead of them. Severus followed as the other teenager, glared at him until he moved.

* * *

Harry sat up slowly and cautiously, curious as to what new injuries he had from the beating that the soldiers had given him. He was surprised to find that he was completely free of pain, and that there wasn't a single cut or bruise anywhere on his uncovered arms. Pulling off his T-shirt he found his chest and back to be similarly unmarked by the fresh injuries he knew he had to have received.

'What's going on? The only way that I could have healed this quickly is if magic was involved.' With this thought he looked around, noticing his surroundings for the first time. The room he was in looked exactly like his room in Quatre's mansion, but he couldn't remember being brought back there, nor could he think of a reason why the pilots would want to bring him back. 'I fucked up. Why are they still bothering to help me? And how did they heal the injuries that I had?'

"_Hey, Earth to Harry, come back from beyond the moon so we can talk."_ The laptop that dropped in front of him already had text on the screen for Harry to read. Duo sat down next to him, carefully placing a loaded breakfast tray between them on the bed that was easily large enough to fit five people. _"You really gave us a scare, you know."_

Harry quickly tapped out a reply on the keyboard,_ "Why did you bring me back/ I thoght thatyou wuldn't want me after wat i did."_

"_You're taking the blame for what Wu Fei did? Don't. He doesn't blame you for what he did. Man, you really are stubborn. We're not the kind of scummy bastards who'd abandon you for such a small thing and, from what he told us, he's the one who kissed you."_

"_That's not the problem. Not all of it anyway."_ Harry was surprised that he was so willing to use the laptop and explain things to the violet eyed pilot. _"I thik that I actually I actually liked it. Is that wrong after"_ Harry couldn't type anything more and he pulled his hands away as if the keys burned his fingers.

"_No, it's not wrong. I'm not an empath, not like Quatre, but if you liked the kiss, then maybe it's because of who was kissing you and not the fact that you were being kissed. Maybe it's Wu Fei that you like."_ Duo sighed and squeezed Harry's hand reassuringly._"And there's no shame in loving another guy, you know. You can't let what those bastards did to you rule your life forever. Show them that they can't win by moving on and living your life the way you want to. If anyone says that what you are doing is wrong, that it's disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourself, then give them a good beating. Or, as Quatre tries to get me to do, be the better man and ignore them. Either way, you win."_ Duo didn't need to be an empath to see that Harry understood at least some of what he was trying to say. He was sat up straighter now, and a shaky smile was beginning to creep onto his face, which was no longer turned away from Duo as if he was afraid that he was going to be hit. DeathScythe's pilot grinned and punched the air, pleased at actually managing to get through to the stubborn teenager.

* * *

Three cloaked and hooded men stood in front of a suburban house, staring at the seemingly innocuous house in curiosity. The few people that were out on the streets in the middle of the hot summer day seemed not to notice them, despite the strange way in which they were dressed, and the fact that the summer's heat didn't bother them at all.

"So, is he in there?" The man on the right asked, looking towards the man on the left for the answer.

"The scent is at least a month old. He hasn't been here for a while," the other man answered, shaking his head. The first man growled angrily, shaking a scarred fist at the house. 

"Where in Hades name could he have gone? What are the wards like, bro?" He turned to the middle man, the tallest of the three and the only one with a wand out. He also shook his head, sighing deeply.

"The blood ward that should surround this property is nonexistent. I would guess that such a thing never existed in the first place. There are other wards here though, and I would rather have not found them." He scuffed his foot on the floor, before looking up at his brother. "There are wards to bind people to this place, to prevent magic from being used here, to ensure the silence of the occupants and to stop people from paying too much attention to the house and its occupants and a weak obliviation ward keyed to one of the occupants. The most worrying piece of spell work is the last, and most powerful, ward that I've found. It's a hatred ward, keyed to one specific person, set to affect every other non-magical person who enters the house. Whoever set these wards _wanted_ him to suffer. But why?"

"To soften him, make him easier to manipulate into the perfect weapon for the light. To make him into someone willing to do anything to please those that continually rescue him from the hell that he is repeatedly forced back to." The second man's voice was quiet, as if he had been expecting to find something like this. "I'm sorry, cub, I failed you."

* * *

**Don't kill me, please. Everything will be explained in the next few chapters. The next chapter should be up by May, as long as RL doesn't interfere again.**


	5. Acceptance

Gah, why is this site being so annoying? First it steals my line breaks, not it's stealing my formatting. I almost didn't bother updating this today, since I noticed in the edit/preview that it stole _all_ of my formatting. Bold, italics, paragraphs, line breaks...everything. I had to manually re-enter all of these things, using the original document as a reference, so if anything seems weird, that's why. Sometimes I wonder why I don't just give up and move all of my fics to LJ instead...

This chapter is early I know (I think I said I would have up in May) but I finished it, got my beta to look it over and decided to just post it. My birthday seemed like an appropriate day to do so. I'm currently working on the next chapters, so hopefully that should be up in just as short an amount of time.

* * *

"_Written/typed text, e.g. books, notes, web pages_"

"**Sign language**"

_#Radio communications/telephone/vid phone/TV/radio broadcast#_

**-Parseltongue-**

"Normal speech"

'_Thoughts'_

* * *

I sat straight-backed in the uncomfortable chair, watching my teenaged hosts out of the corner of my eye, wondering when my life had gotten so complicated. As a child I'd known that I was different from nearly all of the children in my school, except for the brilliantly intelligent Lily Evans. When we were both accepted to Hogwarts I stayed friends with the Muggleborn girl, even though I was a halfblooded Slytherin, and through her I made friends with Sirius Black and James Potter, both heirs to prominent Pureblood families, the werewolf Remus Lupin and the halfblood Peter Pettigrew. For several years we stayed friends, even though our housemates attempted to end our friendship. I smiled as I remembered the prank war that had students scared to leave their dormitories for three years running, just Lily and me against the Marauders.

Then Voldemort's rebellion really began to draw attention to the Pureblood supremacists, and Dumbledore started to look for a spy amongst the students of Hogwarts. He tried to recruit each of the Marauders, but failed because none of them wished to compromise their beliefs. I initially refused, until a certain incident changed my mind about my friends.

In my Fifth Year, everything started to go wrong. I had known for some time that Remus was a werewolf, and therefore I made a point to save my out-of-doors after-curfew rule breaking for nights that weren't a full moon. The Marauders knew that I knew that Remus was a werewolf, so they couldn't use it to scare me, nor would they even if I hadn't known. They had more sense and honour than that. It took me some time to figure out what really happened that night, but when I did figure it out I was livid. Someone had placed me, and possibly Sirius and James, under the Imperius Curse in order to set the situation up. I was just lucky that James was able to throw off the Curse in time to save me from being mauled and possibly turned by an out-of-control werewolf.

After that, because of a liberal use of memory charms and several illegal potions, I began to change. I went from the darker-edge-of-Grey friend of the Marauders and Lily Evans, to an insufferable git who wasted no opportunity to insult and humiliate all those who didn't fit in Voldemort's worldview. I still held some loyalty to Lily, my first real friend, and would do anything to keep her safe, even turn to the leader of the enemy forces. In short, I became the perfect spy for Dumbledore.

All of this was hidden by strong memory charms and compulsions, which prevented me from examining my life in detail. Only a small coincidence saved me from completely turning into the evil bastard that Dumbledore wanted me to be. Lily, bless her soul, had some talent for Divination and managed to see some small part of her future. I don't know what exactly she saw, but it was enough for her to beg me to swear an oath to protect her child after her untimely death. She knew that she would get married to someone other than me, which the not-so-small part of my brain that had a crush on her protested against, and that she would die young, before her child entered Hogwarts. I readily swore the oath that she asked of me, to protect her child as long as I was able to do so, no matter who the father was.

When Harry went missing after Voldemort's attack on Godric's Hollow the oath prompted me to try and locate the missing saviour. When he proved to be untraceable, the oath settled back into a dormant state, the magic of my words accepting that I had done all I could. When Harry entered Hogwarts I was once again motivated to protect him as best I could without remembering why, an effort that was thwarted by Dumbledore's insistence on testing Harry and his friends in life-threatening situations. To facilitate my attempts to fulfil my oath, the dormant magic broke through the blocks on my mind. Such an action would have left most wizards slightly irritable for a few days. 

Unfortunately I was an accomplished Occlumens, used to having full control of my own mind and the sudden influx of almost-but-not-completely-familiar memories took a long time to sort through, resulting in me driving Harry away with my bad temper and misplaced anger.

After that I continued to keep up the facade of being Dumbledore's pawn, but during the summers I did what I could to make up for my behaviour under Dumbledore's control. I could do nothing to change my attitude towards my students; Dumbledore's potions and spells and control over Hogwarts made sure of that, but I could make up for it in other ways. It was through my attempts to aid abused children that I learned the truth of what I was like under Dumbledore's control, and that was the catalyst that I needed to finish breaking free of my two masters so that I may find the one that I pledged my life to protect when I was fourteen.

The teenagers listened silently as I told them this, allowing me to finish my tale while I was still willing to talk to them. I felt his respect for them grow, seeing that they were unarguably more intelligent that the students that would have annoyed me even without Dumbledore's manipulations. The braided teenager looked like he had the most questions, if his Weasley-twin-like grin and impatient squirming were any indication, but he still held his silence. The two Asian teens and the one with his hair over half his face were as still as statues, rather heavily armed statues at that.

I was focusing on the last two though. The innocent looking blond that I had initially dismissed as harmless, until I'd found himself on the wrong end of his gun after Harry had seen me and panicked, and Harry himself. The blond was watching me calmly, but his fingers were flying over the keys of a Muggle laptop as he relayed my words to Harry, who was now deaf-mute. Harry didn't look up at me, but instead chose to watch the words that were appearing on the screen in front of him.

Eventually, after I stopped talking and allowed silence to settle on the room, Harry looked up at me. I resisted the urge to flinch away from his piercing green eyes, eyes that I had never noticed before because they were hidden by those ugly glasses of his. I felt like he was judging me, searching my magic and my soul for some sort of sign that I would never be able to find on my own. After what felt like hours, although it was only a few seconds, he got up and walked over to me.

"**Harry Potter. Pleased to meet you,**" he signed before he held out his hand to me. I stared at him in shock for several seconds before I managed to gather my wits.

"**Severus Snape. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance,**" I replied, shaking his hand gratefully. He smiled at me, making me feel as if all my previous sins were absolved.

* * *

Quatre relaxed slightly as he felt Harry's acceptance of Snape's words, pleased that the smaller teenager was starting to heal mentally from what had happened to him. The Arabian had been close to Snape for most of the week that it had taken Harry to heal, judging his emotions and watching him for any sign of deceit. If he'd found any sign that the wizard was about to betray them, then Heero would immediately have killed him as a security risk.

When Duo and Heero had returned to the mansion with an unconscious Harry and a strange man, all of the pilots had been on full alert. Only after the stranger had healed Harry, with Trowa and Wufei standing guard with guns ready to fire the whole time, did they bother to interrogate him. Upon learning that he had worked for both Dumbledore and Voldemort, Duo had instantly been ready to kill him. Out of all of them, the American had gotten the closest to Harry and he had stated several times that he would quite cheerfully dismember either wizard with his bare hands if they ever came near Harry again. No one doubted him. Once Duo had calmed down, the decision had been made to place Snape in one of the empty suites in the mansion until Harry was awake.

Harry's panic attack upon seeing Snape had almost been enough to make Quatre pull the trigger, before he managed to close his empathic skill off enough to separate his emotions from Harry's. It 

had been his idea for Snape to explain himself to the entire group, so Harry could make his own decision about whether or not the potions master could be trusted. He was glad that Harry had chosen the path of forgiveness rather than revenge; having two friends who developed selective blindness and deafness when their enemies were nearby was more than enough.

"You are the owner of this house, correct?" Quatre smiled at the wizard, nodding calmly as he kept an eye on Duo, who was using Harry as a shield against Wu Fei after slipping a fake worm down his fellow pilot's back. "I thank you for your hospitality and care, and would like to ask your permission to stay a while longer."

"You would stay here, even after we held you captive?" Quatre turned his full attention to Snape. "Why?"

"I haven't seen Harry act so cheerful, so child-like in all the time that he spent at Hogwarts." Snape looked over at where Harry had retaliated by 'accidentally' spilling his water on Duo's crotch. "Despite the fact that you all seem to be more than just teenagers, you have also managed to get Harry to behave like someone his age should. If Harry had been left on his own this summer, as Dumbledore wished him to be, then he would have already died. Not," Snape held up his hand to stop Quatre from speaking, "in the physical sense of death, as only Voldemort would be capable of that, but someone without any reason to live..."

"May as well be dead already." Quatre finished, grinning as he noticed that Heero had his arm around Duo's shoulder, preventing any further retaliation from Harry or Wu Fei. "Why should we let _you_ stay though? As you've pointed out, Harry has healed so much already, without your help."

"The prophecy still hangs over him. Voldemort and Dumbledore will not allow him to live his life unhindered, no matter how much he tries to disconnect himself from the Wizarding World. He will need training to fight them; training that the five of you cannot provide for him. I am a fully qualified Potions Master, with extensive knowledge and experience in Duelling, Healing and the Dark Arts. I swore to Lily that I would protect her child, and by teaching him all he needs to know to survive, I can do that."

"I am convinced," Snape wondered when Trowa had moved to behind him, having not noticed him until he spoke, "and the others agree." Snape looked round to see the four teenagers watching him intently. "You are welcome to stay with us as long as you like."

* * *

Albus Dumbledore looked around at the assembled witches and wizards in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. His Order of the Phoenix was growing, and it now had over 500 members in the United Kingdom alone. They weren't all here though. This was just his core group, his inner circle if he wished to call it that.

He noted the faces that watched him expectantly, waiting for him to start the meeting. Molly and Arthur Weasley, who most of his plan and still stood by him were seated halfway down the table. Ronald and Ginevra Weasley, who knew only slightly less than their parents, were seated a bit further down with Hermione Granger, who knew everything that they knew. Fred and George Weasley were between their younger siblings and their parents, and were completely clueless about his plans for Harry. The two oldest Weasley 'children' were absent, attending to other matters and unable to attend the meeting that night. Severus Snape's usual in the corner was absent, as it had been for the past few weeks, and Dumbledore assumed that the spy was being kept busy by his other 'master'. Remus Lupin was also absent, which was unusual for the outcast werewolf, who was rejected even by other werewolves for his continued association with wizards. None of the others that were present knew of Dumbledore's true ambition, as he didn't feel it prudent to trust every one of his inner circle with the information. None of the assembled group knew everything.

Signalling for attention, not that it was needed, he stepped up to the head of the table to begin the meeting. "It is my sad duty to inform you that Harry Potter has gone missing from his family's home."

The explosion of sound that followed this statement almost blew him off his feet. Everyone seemed to want to know what had happened to Harry, how they were going to find him and where they should be searching for him. This was exactly what Dumbledore wanted. He didn't know how Harry had escaped the wards that surrounded Privet Drive, or who had helped him, but he couldn't be left alone for long. If someone managed to rebuild his confidence or break his trust in Dumbledore then the results would be disastrous.

"Calm down!" Everyone retook their seats, watching Dumbledore anxiously. "There is no indication that Voldemort has managed to capture him yet, which gives us time to find him. Those of you that have work to do at Hogwarts should return there, in case Mr Potter attempts to make his way to safety at the school. Amelia, you should allow Kingsley, Mad-Eye and Nymphadora," he ignored the sound of disgust the Auror gave at the sound of her given name, "to organise Auror patrols to search the most likely places that he might be. Make up some excuse to use; no one outside of this meeting is to know that Mr Potter is missing.

"Fred and George, keep an eye on Diagon Alley, in case he turns up there. Fleur, ask Bill to keep an eye out in Gringotts just in case he manages to slip past Fred and George's notice. Ronald and Ginevra and Miss Granger, keep watch at the Burrow in case Mr Potter comes there or sends a letter there. Ginevra, if you would also make sure to find out if he attempts to contact Miss Lovegood. Augusta, contact me immediately if your grandson gets any kind of correspondence from Mr Potter. Time is of the essence here."

Everyone nodded or murmured their assent, wondering why the boy saviour would have chosen to run away or who could have kidnapped him. Dumbledore somehow managed to miss the calculating gleam that came into the twins' eyes as he moved onto the next item on the agenda. The prankster Weasleys knew that something wasn't quite right with what Dumbledore was saying, and they wanted to know what was really going on.

* * *

Hm, I believe that several chapters back I promised virtual Sandrock plushies to those who correctly guessed the identity of the mystery man. So, as promised, virtual plushies to Dreamweaver, ariannalupin, chisa1, RB, kirallie, Azinine, sable2684 and Orphen Chica. Apologies to anyone I might have accidentally missed.

There's a few clues in this chapter as to the identities of the cloaked men from last chapter. As several people have already guessed one of them, I'll give virtual DeathScythe plushies to everyone who guesses the identities of the other two.


End file.
